My industrial piercing

By seethesebones · July 21, 2011

In January, I turned 18. So, I decided to add another piercing to my "collection." Already having the standard first and second holes, and an upper and lower helix, I thought it was time to find a more unique piercing. I did some research and landed on the industrial piercing. I had heard that it could be a painful piercing, but I figured I could suck it up. I had planned on the industrial piercing to be a present to myself, but my mother insisted on paying for it :) I asked my friend Brittney to come with us and since she had wanted her nose pierced, she agreed she would.

I ended up going to Marlowe Ink in Virginia, which was very close to my house. This was my first experience in a professional piercing studio (bastards at Piercing Pagoda crushed my cartilage..), so needless to say I was a bit on edge. I only had to wait a few minutes before I was ready to go into the back room. Since it was Sunday, there weren’t too many people in the studio, which turned out to be a good advantage of going on the weekend. I was led into a small back room, which held a table, sink, swivel chair, and cabinet with the piercing supplies. I met my piercer, Danny, who was a complete angel. I told him what piercing I wanted and he cleaned my ear and marked it for me, all while wearing gloves and a surgical mask, as not to breathe possible germs on my ear. He took the industrial bar and held it up to my ear, asking how I liked the placement. After I gave my consent, he asked me to lie down on the table. He asked me to turn my head away from him so that my left ear was exposed. He made sure all the needles and tools were clean and in their separate packaging and changed his gloves again before he started. He took a receiving tube and placed it on the outside of my ear, where the top part of the bar would come through. He talked me through it, saying "Okay, going in now" as he pierced the first hole and "In again" as he pierced the second hole. Now, I should say here that I have a pretty low tolerance for pain.. But this piercing didn't hurt in the slightest. There was a little pressure and a pop as he pierced through the cartilage, but nothing painful.

He then threaded the bar through my ear, one hole at a time, and then cleaned off the minimal blood. My mother said that it was really cool to watch, that once he had the bar in my ear, Danny had to flatten my ear out. She said it looked all wrinkly at first, kind of like a cauliflower. I told Danny thank you and I appreciated it and got up from the table. As Brittney was getting her nose pierced though, I felt sick and started to faint. Danny was there on the other side of the table, though, to catch me before I fell. He told me to lie back down on the table while he got me water and peanut M&Ms. I laid there for a few minutes and then was free to go. Note: this happens almost every time I get a new piercing. The adrenaline rush just gets the best of me.
As I was paying for the piercing, I got another bottle of H2Ocean, which I highly recommend using. The worst part of the entire experience was walking into the front waiting room afterwards and have about 5 people staring at me because they heard me thumping against the wall in the back.. All in all Danny and Marlowe Ink were spectacular and I will visit them many more times to come! The industrial bar piercing is a great piercing to get and I highly recommend it! The price was $65 and it was well worth it :)

It has been almost 6 months to the day since I got my industrial piercing. It looks great and is healing well with the exception of me touching it. Leave it the hell alone! I mean it. I think my ear should be more healed than it is. I am starting to get back into the habit of cleaning it every day and night. I suggest using H2Ocean and making your own sea salt soaks. If that doesn’t work, add the use of antibacterial soap to your routine. I can move the bar back and forth pretty easily, but I still have 6 more months before I feel comfortable changing the bar. Sleeping on for the first few months wasn't great, but it wasn't too terrible either. It hurt a little when I was pushing my hair behind my ears or when I would wash my hair in the shower. No bleeding and minimal crusties, which can be cleaned with a Q-tip, NOT your hands.

Comments (1)

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